Cremation urns are containers that are used to hold the cremated remains of living beings. Cremation is an alternative to earth burial or entombment for the final disposition of the body of the deceased. It is a process by which the body is reduced to ashes by heat and fire. The remains may be placed in a cremation urn, which can be buried much like a full size casket. Sometimes, friends and family of the deceased may scatter the ashes in a sentimental location. However, in many instances, the cremation ashes may be memorialized in a home, a columbarium, a mausoleum, or other fixed location where the urn is displayed.
Keepsake urns are another type of urn designed for those wishing to memorialize the deceased. Jewelry is one type of keepsake urn that allows loved-ones to carry a portion of the cremated remains as a memento or to give a small amount of the remains to others. Jewelry and these types of keepsake urns are portable, which offers a different way to memorialize the deceased. However, these types of keepsake urns are discrete, delicate items often noticeable and sentimental mostly to those wearing the item. Others who see the keepsake may not understand or appreciate its significance.
It should always be remembered that memorialization serves as a tribute to a life lived and provides a focal point for remembrance of the deceased. For some people, memorialization that contemplates a fixed display or a piece of jewelry worn on a person does not reflect the true nature and spirit of the deceased. In some cases, the deceased may have been a part of an organization having a large following or that is well known or well respected. Also, the deceased may have been an avid outdoorsman, traveler, or motorcyclist who is not representatively memorialized through an urn that is displayed in a fixed manner or worn on a person's body. Conventional urns do not appear to address the desire for persons, friends, and families to transport cremation ashes in a manner similar to they way the deceased lived their lives.